eQ Homes, Regional Group launch Greystone Village on Main Street Oblate lands

It was a balmy fall evening recently for dedicated urbanites with deep pockets to sip champagne and be the first to check out Greystone Village, a contemporary, deeply green community set to grow along the banks of the Rideau River in Old Ottawa East.

By the last sip of bubbly, yellow dots reserved posh corner condos overlooking the river, slick townhomes boasting rear garages and single homes facing Brantwood Park and the water.

This was a private gathering, setting the stage for last weekend’s VIP launch of Greystone, which the project’s marketing folks like to label “a visionary riverfront community.”

And that VIP launch in turn was golden.

The first phase virtually sold out in two days, with builder eQ Homes now releasing a second phase this weekend, says marketing manager Tobin Kardish.

There was a lineup early last Saturday, with 20 of 24 townhomes sold, 13 of 20 single-family homes picked up by growing families and 31 of the 96 condos reserved by older boomers living in surrounding neighbourhoods.

“I can’t believe how well we were received by the community,” says Kardish. “We are releasing a second phase and there will be lots of choice.”

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There is a lot of vision in the design of Greystone, and an equal measure of cooperation between developer The Regional Group (eQ’s parent company), community groups and planners, who whisked the prime piece of real estate that sits between Main Street and the Rideau River through complicated city hall approvals in a record 15 months.

Success was based on lots of talking and hundreds of meetings with community groups and the city.

Greystone is unique in the city. Within the next decade, 26 acres of largely open space owned by the Oblate brothers for more than 155 years will evolve into a community of 916 contemporary condos that come with a storage room for kayaks, slim towns boasting rear garages, and modest to customized single homes with clear views of the Rideau.

Greystone Village sits on 26 acres of land formerly owned by the Oblates between Main Street and the Rideau River.

Each home and condo will meet high energy-efficiency guidelines and the community will be modeled on new urbanism, a concept popularized in the ’80s in the United States that narrows streets, tucks garages to rear lanes, promotes front porches and encourages lively streets where pedestrians and bicycles dominate over cars.

Prices are not for the financially timid, starting at $293,000 for a micro condo, stretching up to $1.5 million and beyond for a customized single.

Road construction starts shortly, with work on the townhomes and singles beginning next July and the first residents arriving in 2017. Condo residents are scheduled to arrive in the summer of 2018.

There will also be a major grocery store, shops, and condos set on each side of the Grande Allée leading up to a large park and Edifice Deschâtelets, an imposing grey stone residence and school built by the Oblates 155 years ago. Regional is still wrestling with future plans for the residence, suggesting it might offer housing for seniors.

“We are creating a new urban heart,” says David Kardish, vice-president of land development for The Regional Group. “Greystone is going to transform the whole area.”

Shops (and condos) will line either side of the Grande Allée leading up to a large park and Edifice Deschâtelets.

It will likely take a decade to build, says Denis Laporte, newly named chairman of eQ Homes and a veteran of the Ottawa housing industry. “This is huge and exciting, with half a billion dollar in sales over 10 years.”

Initially, the emphasis will be on offering a blend of townhomes and singles, partly because there is a surplus of condos on the market, says Laporte. There may be plans to turn future condos into rental offerings.

Ottawa architect Barry Hobin and his team won noisy applause from the Old Ottawa East Community Association in 2014, when they showed off the plans designed by members of his firm. Architects and The Regional Group also met regularly with city planners to sort through issues, earning recent praise from Michael Mizzi, Ottawa’s acting general manager for the planning and growth management department.

“I would say they are an ‘A’ in their willingness and openness to work with the city and community on ideas,” says Mizzi, adding Greystone offers a very thoughtful and sensitive site plan that brings in a mix of housing types. “The relationship to the river is good and it is good to the surrounding community. There are initiatives, including rear lanes. People are always more important than cars.

“It is still not built, but their grade for the community is very good. This is an excellent comprehensive plan.”

The community takes its cue from The Edifice Deschâtelets, a grey stone residence and school built by the Oblates that will become the focal point of the community.

The Hobin team reached back more than two decades, choosing and then refining the best of its contemporary designs for a younger buyer with modern sensibilities. “A younger demographic wants to live in a contemporary home in a city that is also growing up,” he says.

“They are not crazy modern designs. There is lots of open space, lots of glass and detailing on the exteriors.” And for the traditionalist, there are pared-down Craftsman-inspired singles facing the river.

“This is all very exciting,” says Stephen Pope, a commercial architect and chair of the planning committee for the Old Ottawa East Community Association. The association represents owners living in mostly modest homes on streets surrounding Greystone. “Regional reached out and we have been involved in the discussions and have had input into the design plan.”

Pope is looking forward to reconstruction of Main Street, which runs along the western edge of the property, new shops, parks and hopefully a new community centre to service residents in Old Ottawa East.

The design process stretches back 10 years and an original neighbourhood design plan, but Pope says all of the talk is worth the wait. “These things are going to last hundreds of years and if it takes five or six years, then that’s the way to go.”

Presenting Greystone

Delivering the lively, multi-layered story of Greystone Village takes glossy brochures, 13 touch-screen televisions and a helicopter and hot air balloon.

Add white honed marble, hand-scraped maple floors, detailed cabinetry and intricate scaled models of the smart singles, townhomes and condos to the mix and you have Ottawa’s most elaborate presentation centre on Main Street in Old Ottawa East.

It took six months to build and reflects the village’s contemporary vibe, which was designed by Ottawa architect Barry Hobin and his team. The presentation centre will likely be open for the next decade or as long as it takes to sell out the 26-acre community. It has to be solid.

“A lot of money and electronics has gone into one of the city’s most impressive sales centres. It really is state-of-the-art marketing,” says Denis Laporte, newly named chairman of eQ Homes, the building arm of The Regional Group, which is the driving force behind the new neighbourhood by the Rideau River. Laporte designed the presentation centre.

Laporte, formerly president of eQ Homes, declined to give an exact budget for the stone-and-glass building, but hinted it was over $800,000. Visitors will be able to touch any of the large television screens and get a detailed history of the Oblates who settled the land or see vistas from the ninth-floor penthouse of a condo terrace.

Every agent will carry an iPad and an iPhone and be connected to instant information for buyers.

“We wanted to paint a picture of Greystone and what it is going to become,” says Tobin Kardish, marketing manager for eQ Homes.

The Regional Group turned to Montana Steele, an award-winning Toronto-based marketing firm, to bring alive the many chapters of the Greystone story.

“It is a very interactive presentation centre,” Laporte says. “Gone are the days of running into a sales centre, grabbing a brochure, looking at drawings on the wall and leaving.”

Greystone Village

What is it: A mixed-use green community on 26 acres between Main Street and the Rideau River in Old Ottawa East. The initial release includes townhomes, singles and a nine-storey condo building.

Builder: eQ Homes

Prices: Condos start at $293,000 for 593 square feet to $1.25 million for a 1,772-square-foot penthouse. Underground parking is $35,000. Townhomes start at $575,000 for a 1,454-square-foot two-bedroom, while singles start at $770,000 for a 1,691 square-foot three bedroom going up to $1.28 million for 2,785 square feet.

Sales centre: 175A Main St. Due to construction, Main Street is only open to south-bound traffic.

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